Police in Ho Chi Minh City have booked over 87,000 violations of pandemic prevention and control regulations and imposed fines worth more than VND100 billion (US$4.3 million) since authorities loosened COVID-19 restrictions on October 1.

The municipal steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control organized a press meeting on Monday to provide information on the pandemic situation in the metropolis.

At the event, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Manh Ha, deputy chief of staff of the city’s Department of Public Security, said that police units in all districts and Thu Duc City have been patrolling to ensure security and order, as well as to detect and deal with violations of pandemic response measures.

Officers across the metropolis have booked over 87,000 violations of pandemic prevention and control regulations and imposed fines worth more than VND100 billion ($4.3 million) since October 1, Ha elaborated.

Police issued warnings in 251 cases, most of which were failure to wear face masks in public.

The Department of Public Security has been working with the Department of Health to equip the police force with basic medical skills as well as knowledge of COVID-19 prevention and control, the official continued.

With over 488,000 local infections, Ho Chi Minh City has been the hardest-hit locality in Vietnam since the fourth virus wave began on April 27.

As of Sunday, local hospitals were providing treatment to 12,150 COVID-19 patients. Among them, there are 388 children under 16, 488 patients on breathing support, and 15 patients on ECMO, or outside-the-body life support.

Due to the serious pandemic, the municipal authorities had implemented various levels of social distancing since May 31 before loosening restrictions on October 1, as the majority of the adult population had been vaccinated with at least one dose.

As of Monday, health workers in the metropolis had administered more than 14.8 million vaccine shots.

Nearly 6.9 million out of nine million people in the city have been fully inoculated.

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